🥭 Kevin Hernandez (he/him)

Hi, i'm Kevin ᕕ(ᐛ)ᕗ!

I am curious about how youth can build critical AI literacy and techno-social change agency, equipping them to contest and shape AI’s design and governance. Through community-centered research, I seek to create interventions that redistribute power and enable democratic oversight of AI in contexts from education to municipalities.

✉️ kh78@rice.edu 🔗 LinkedIn 📄 Full CV

news

Joined AI Standards Lab as AI Governance Research Fellow

Tue Jul 01 2025

Structured literature review across AI safety, aviation, and healthcare to map incident pipelines; designed multi-stage incident taxonomy for post-deployment monitoring.

fellowshipgovernance

Won R.K.M. 'Bob' Dickson Social Impact Prize and REA Research Excellence Award

Thu May 01 2025

Also received ACM SIGCSE travel support and Rice CS conference funds.

awardsRice

SIGCSE TS 2026 paper accepted (in press)

Sat Feb 15 2025

<i>QuantAid: A Constructivist Model to Improve Quantum Computing Education for Early Learners</i>.

publication

Selected for Council on Undergraduate Research Advocacy (Capitol Hill)

Wed Nov 13 2024

Featured by Rice OPA & OURI for congressional advocacy on STEM/AI education.

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research

QuantAid: A Constructivist Model to Improve Quantum Computing Education for Early Learners

Kevin Hernandez, Kaushani Patel, Dr. Tirthak Patel

ACM SIGCSE TS · 2026 · published // 🧑🏻‍🔬 built & evaluated AI tutor platform addressing the severe lack of quantum education tools → boosted learning & engagement for HS + undergrad students

PDF Slides Project

AI Standards Lab: Building Post-Deployment AI Incident Monitoring Frameworks

Kevin Hernandez, Ze Shen Chin, Dr. Rokas Gipiškis

AI Standards Lab · 2025 · preprint // 🏛️ developing a framework for post-deployment AI incident monitoring that defines, classifies, tracks, and reports failures for regulatory oversight

Project

Human–Automation Collaboration (HAC) Lab: Improving Usability in Self-Driving Simulations

Kevin Hernandez, Dr. Jing Chen

Rice University HAC Lab · 2024 · preprint // 🚘 human-centered AI study on autonomous vehicles and driver vigilance retention

Project

Enhancing AI for Disinformation and Radicalization Simulation

Kevin Hernandez, Dr. Paulo Blikstein, Renato Russo

Columbia University TLTL Lab · 2024 · published // 📱 computer vision for emotion detection in the learning cycle + exploring ways to empower youth to take agency in data collection.

Slides

Scalable Health Labs: Data-Driven Analysis of Health Disparities

Kevin Hernandez, Dr. Ashutosh Sabharwal

Rice University Scalable Health Labs · 2024 · published // 🩺 data analysis on socio-economic determinants of health for food-as-prescription initiative

Slides

🖼️

Public-Sector Data Engineering: Dual-Language Access & Displacement Mapping

Kevin Hernandez, Dr. Shannon Carter

January Advisors · 2024 // 🏫 engineered socio-spatial tools + regression analyses on Harris County school access, uncovering inequities for low-income students of color

Big Data on the Dairy: Human–AI Collaboration in Automated Agriculture

Kevin Hernandez, Dr. Pamela J. Hinds

Stanford University Hinds Lab · 2023 · published // 🐮 ethnography on how big data/ML models are reshaping dairy occupations & organizations → informing theory on AI design + future of work

Slides

Teaching & Mentoring

RemixCS (Python & Web Dev)

AY 2021–2025 · Head Instructor & Mentor

Taught 150+ Houston high schoolers; 86% reported increased interest in STEM (post-program survey).

Head Academic Fellow (Rice University)

AY 2022–2025 · Lead Tutor/Manager

Led a 32-person team delivering 100+ tutoring events for 400+ students/year; recruitment and check-ins increased retention and volume by 23%.

QuestBridge Mentorship Program

AY 2022–2025 · Founder

Matched 60+ FGLI students with mentors; onboarding & events boosted retention by 31%.

misc

Selected Presentations

2025-02-20

- Rice OURI Shapiro Showcase (2024): 10-minute Lightning Talks - Rice SoE/Computing Student Research Competition (2025) - Stanford SURF Poster & Lightning Talks (2023)